Australia | |
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![]() Australian theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Baz Luhrmann |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Baz Luhrmann |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Mandy Walker |
Edited by | |
Music by | David Hirschfelder |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
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Running time | 165 minutes |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | $130 million [2] |
Box office | $211.8 million [2] |
Australia is a 2008 epic adventure drama film directed by Baz Luhrmann [3] and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood and Richard Flanagan. The film is a character story, set between 1939 and 1942 against a dramatised backdrop of events across northern Australia at the time, such as the bombing of Darwin during World War II.
Production took place in Sydney, Darwin, Kununurra and Bowen. The film was released in cinemas on 26 November 2008 in Australia and the United States and on 26 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, with subsequent worldwide release dates throughout late December 2008, and January and February 2009, by 20th Century Fox. [4] Australia received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $211 million worldwide.
On 26 November 2023, Faraway Downs, an extended version of the film presented in the form of a six-episode mini-series, debuted on Disney+ in Australia and Hulu in the US. [5]
In 1939, shortly before World War II, Lady Sarah Ashley of England travels to Australia to force her philandering husband to sell his faltering cattle station, Faraway Downs. The huge station straddles Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Her husband sends an independent cattle drover, called "The Drover", to transport her to Faraway Downs.
Lady Sarah's husband is murdered before she arrives; the authorities tell her the killer is an Aboriginal elder nicknamed "King George". The station's manager, Neil Fletcher, secretly tries to gain control of Faraway Downs in order to sell it to meat tycoon Lesley 'King' Carney, thereby creating a complete cattle monopoly. At Darwin, Australian Army logistics officer Captain Dutton negotiates beef prices with Carney on behalf of the Allies.
The childless Lady Sarah is captivated by the boy Nullah, who has an Aboriginal mother and a white father. Nullah, who has spied on Fletcher, reveals his plan to Lady Sarah, who fires Fletcher and runs the cattle station aided by her remaining staff. The next day, policemen arrive to take Nullah away to Mission Island as they have with other half-Aboriginal children. While evading them, Nullah's mother drowns when she hides with him in a water tower. Lady Sarah comforts Nullah by singing the song "Over the Rainbow". Nullah tells her that "King George" is his grandfather, and that like the Wizard of Oz, he, too, is a "magic man".
Lady Sarah persuades Drover to take the cattle to Darwin for sale. Drover leads a team of seven riders, including his Aboriginal brother-in-law Magarri, Nullah, Lady Sarah, and the station's accountant Kipling Flynn, to drive the 1,500 cattle to Darwin. They encounter obstacles along the way, including a fire set by Carney's men that scares the cattle, resulting in the death of Flynn. Lady Sarah and Drover fall in love, and she grows to appreciate the Australian territory. The two share a romantic moment under a tree, where she reveals her inability to have children. The team drives the cattle through the treacherous Never Never desert before reaching Darwin.
Lady Sarah, Nullah, and Drover live together at Faraway Downs for two years. Fletcher takes over Carney's cattle empire after orchestrating Carney's death in an accident and marrying his daughter, Catherine, all between 1940 and 1941. He returns to Faraway Downs and threatens Nullah's safety unless Lady Sarah sells her cattle station. Fletcher intimidates her by revealing that he murdered Lady Sarah's husband and that he is Nullah's father.
Nullah intends to go on a walkabout with "King George", much to Lady Sarah's dismay. She and Drover argue about what is best for Nullah, after which Drover leaves Faraway Downs. Nullah is apprehended by the authorities and sent to live on Mission Island. Lady Sarah, who has come to regard Nullah as her adopted son, vows to rescue him. As World War II escalates, she goes to work as a radio operator alongside Catherine. When the Japanese attack Mission Island and Darwin in 1942, Lady Sarah fears that Nullah has been killed.
Drover returns to Darwin after hearing about the attack. He learns of Nullah's abduction to Mission Island and goes with Magarri, Ivan, and a young Christian brother to rescue him and the other children. Magarri sacrifices himself as a diversion so the others can flee. Meanwhile, Lady Sarah and the other townsfolk are being evacuated South by Captain Dutton. Drover and the children sail into port at Darwin as Nullah plays "Over the Rainbow" on his harmonica; Lady Sarah hears the music and the three are reunited. Fletcher, distraught at his financial ruin and Catherine's death during the Japanese attack, attempts to shoot Nullah with a soldier's rifle. As Lady Sarah and Drover rush to save Nullah, "King George" strikes Fletcher with a spear, killing him.
Lady Sarah, Drover, and Nullah return to Faraway Downs. Sometime later, "King George" calls out to Nullah, who returns to the Outback with his grandfather as Lady Sarah and Drover look on.
Originally, Baz Luhrmann was planning to make a film about Alexander the Great starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman, with a screenplay by David Hare. [6] The director had built a studio in the northern Sahara but Alexander made by Oliver Stone was released first and after several years in development, Luhrmann abandoned the project to make a film closer to home. [6] The visual effects were done by Animal Logic and The LaB Sydney.[ citation needed ] Luhrmann spent six months researching general Australian history. [6] At one point he considered setting his film during the First Fleet, 11 ships that sailed from Britain in 1787 and set up the first colony in New South Wales. The director wanted to explore Australia's relationship with England and with its indigenous population. [6] He decided to set the film between World Wars I and II in order to merge a historical romance with the Stolen Generations, where thousands of mixed-race Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families by the state and integrated into white society. Luhrmann has said that his film depicts "a mythologised Australia". [6]
In May 2005, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman entered negotiations to star in an untitled 20th Century Fox project written by director Baz Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Luhrmann directing the film. [7] In May 2006, due to Crowe's demanding personal script approval before signing onto the project, Luhrmann sought to replace the actor with Heath Ledger. [8] Crowe said he didn't want to work in an environment that was influenced by budgetary needs. [9] About this casting issue, Luhrmann said, "it was hard pinning [Crowe] down. Every time I was ready, Russell was in something else, and every time he was ready, I would be having another turmoil". [6] The following June, Luhrmann replaced Crowe with actor Hugh Jackman. [10] In January 2007, actors Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson, and David Wenham were cast into Australia. [11] In November 2006, Luhrmann began searching for an actor to play an Aboriginal boy of 8–10 years old and by April 2007, 11-year-old Brandon Walters was cast into the role of Nullah. [12] Academic D. Bruno Starrs has written about how this casting choice and the decision to have the character of Nullah narrate the film reinforce its "left-leaning" message regarding the 'Stolen Generations'. [13]
The untitled project was scheduled to begin production in September 2006, but scheduling conflicts and budget issues postponed the start of production to February 2007. [9] In November 2006, Luhrmann explored The Kimberley to determine the amount of production to be shot there. In December 2006, Bowen was chosen as a filming location for a third of the production, portraying the look of Darwin. [14] Bowen was chosen as a prospect due to the financing of $500,000 by the Queensland government. [15] In April, Kununurra was chosen as another location for Australia, this time to serve as Faraway Downs, the homestead owned by Kidman's character. [16] Entire sets were built from scratch, including a stand-alone set in the Queensland town of Bowen, the re-creation of war scenes near Darwin Harbour, and the construction of an outback homestead in Western Australia. [17]
Academy Award-winning costume designer Catherine Martin did extensive research for the film's outfits, studying archival images and newspapers from the 1930s and 1940s Australia. She also interviewed descendants of the original Darwin stockmen in order to find out if they "wore socks with his boots when he rode a horse, that's something you either get through a snapshot, or something you have to go talk to the people who lived there about". [18] The Asian-inspired costumes of the film were intended to evoke the romanticism of the era, and one of the centrepieces of the film's costuming is a red chrysanthemum-printed Chinese cheongsam or qipao that was made for Nicole Kidman's character. [19] The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design.
The director planned to begin filming in March 2007. [20] However, principal photography began on 30 April 2007 in Sydney, [21] and Kidman found out that she was pregnant. She instantly withdrew from her next film, The Reader . [22] Afterwards, the production moved to Bowen on 14 May. [16]
Filming in Kununurra was a gruelling experience for the cast and crew with temperatures soaring to 43 °C (109 °F) which, one day, caused Kidman to faint while on a horse. [22] In addition, she worked 14- and 15-hour days while dealing with morning sickness. [22] While shooting in a remote region of Western Australia, the shoot had to be rescheduled when the Faraway Downs set, the homestead central to the film's story, was reduced to mud from torrential rain – the first in 50 years. [23] The cast and crew went back to Sydney to shoot interior scenes until the expensive set dried out. [17] In addition, at one point, the entire country's horses were in lock down over equine flu. [6] Scenes using Darwin harbour were shot in July 2007, with parts of Stokes Hill Wharf blocked to the public and mini buses used to ferry tourists past the film set. [24] Exterior scenes set at Darwin's colonial Government House were shot in Vaucluse, Sydney, at the historic harbour-side property, Strickland House. [25]
Filming lasted five months, wrapping up at Fox Studios, Sydney, on 19 December 2007. [26] In late April, Luhrmann titled his project Australia. Two other titles that he considered for the film had been Great Southern Land and Faraway Downs. [27] On 11 August 2008, eight months after filming wrapped, several members of the cast and crew were back at Fox Studios, Sydney, to film pick up shots. [28]
Two weeks before the film's premiere, the Daily Telegraph erroneously reported that Luhrmann gave in to studio pressure after "intense" talks with executives and re-wrote and then re-shot the ending of Australia for a happier conclusion after "disastrous reviews" from test screenings. [29] To counter these negative reports, the studio had Jackman and Kidman promoting Australia on The Oprah Winfrey Show , which dedicated an entire episode of the program to the film, [30] and Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman spoke to the Los Angeles Times where he described the Telegraph article as "patently nonsensical. It's all too typical of the way the world works today that everybody picked up an unsourced, anonymous quote-filled story in a tabloid from Sydney and nobody ever bothered to check to see if it was accurate". [29] Rothman also said that Luhrmann had final cut on his film. The director admitted that he wrote six endings in the drafts he authored, and shot three of them. [31]
David Hirschfelder composed the score to Australia. Interpolated musical numbers include the jazz standards "Begin the Beguine", "Tuxedo Junction", "Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)", and "Brazil". Edward Elgar's "Nimrod" from "Enigma" Variations is heard in the final scene of the film. [32] Luhrmann hired singer Rolf Harris to record his wobble board for the opening credits, [33] and Elton John composed and performed a song called "The Drover's Ballad", to lyrics by Luhrmann, for the end credits. Also used in the end credits is "By the Boab Tree", a song nominated for a 2008 Satellite Award, [34] again with Luhrmann lyrics, performed by Sydney singer Angela Little. Little's rendition of "Waltzing Matilda" completes the end credits in some versions of the film. The jazz soundtrack to "Australia" was performed by the Ralph Pyle big band with clarinet solos by Andy Firth. [35]
Tourism Western Australia spent $1 million on a campaign linked with the release of Australia in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and South Korea that ties in with an international Tourism Australia plan. [36] Concerned about the recession and fluctuating international fuel prices, the tourism industry hoped that Luhrmann's film would deliver visitors from all over the world in the same kind of numbers that came to the country following the 1986 release of Crocodile Dundee , and follow the significant increase in visitors to New Zealand since 2001 after the release of The Lord of the Rings films. Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said, "This movie will potentially be seen by tens of millions of people, and it will bring life to little-known aspects of Australia's extraordinary natural environment, history and indigenous culture". [36] Tourism Australia worked with Luhrmann and 20th Century Fox on a publicity campaign titled, "See the Movie, See the Country", based on movie maps and location guides, to transform the film into "a real-life travel adventure". [36] In addition, the director made a $50 million series of commercials promoting the country. [23] [37]
Australia received mixed reviews from critics. As of August 2024 [update] , the film holds a 54% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 223 reviews with an average rating of 5.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Built on lavish vistas and impeccable production, Australia is unfortunately burdened with thinly drawn characters and a lack of originality." [38] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [39]
Jim Schembri in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age (Melbourne) wrote, "The film is fine, and never boring but, boy, is it overlong," and added, "More importantly, local films with black themes or major indigenous characters tend to do poorly, so if Australia succeeds here it could represent a breakthrough. We've always had trouble dealing with racial issues on film, so, in that regard, the film could be a landmark." [40] [41] Claire Sutherland, in her review for the Herald Sun (Melbourne) wrote, "A love letter to the Australian landscape and our history, Australia has international blockbuster written all over it", [42] and Sydney's The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Kidman's screen presence is nothing short of radiant." [43] In his review for The Australian (Sydney), David Stratton wrote, "It's not the masterpiece that we were hoping for, but I think you could say that it's a very good film in many ways. While it will be very popular with many people I think there's a slight air of disappointment after it all. Despite its flaws – and it certainly has flaws – I think Australia is an impressive and important film." [44] Mark Naglazas of The West Australian (Perth) accused positive reviews from News Ltd press outlets of being manipulated by 20th Century Fox, as they were all owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation at the time, calling Australia a film of "unrelenting awfulness" that "lurches drunkenly from crazy comedy to Mills and Boonish melodrama in the space of a couple of scenes". [45]
Anne Barrowclough of The Times (London) gave the film four out of five stars, and states the film defies expectation and "in what turns out to be a multi-layered story it describes an Australia of the 1940s that is at once compellingly beautiful and breathtakingly cruel". [46] Bonnie Malkin of The Daily Telegraph (London) stated: "Local critics had worried that the much-anticipated film Australia would present to the world a series of time-honoured Antipodean clichés. Their fears were well founded". [47]
Megan Lehmann, writing in the Hollywood Reporter , said that the film "defies all but the most cynical not to get carried away by the force of its grandiose imagery and storytelling," and it is "much less earnest than the trailer suggests, layered with a thin veneer of camp and a nod and a wink to accompany the requisite Aussie clichés," and the bottom line is "In epic style, Baz Luhrmann weaves his wizardry on Oz." [48] Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, noting "Baz Luhrmann dreamed of making the Australian Gone with the Wind , and so he has, with much of that film's lush epic beauty and some of the same awkwardness with a national legacy of racism." [49]
David Ansen, in his review for Newsweek , wrote, "Kidman seems to blossom under Luhrmann's direction: she's funny, warm and charming, and the erotic charge between her and the gruff, hunky Jackman is delicious. In a solemn season, Australia's bold, kitschy, unapologetic artifice is a welcome respite." [50] In her review for the New York Times , Manohla Dargis wrote, "This creation story about modern Australia is a testament to movie love at its most devout, cinematic spectacle at its most extreme, and kitsch as an act of aesthetic communion." [51]
Andrew Sarris, in his review for the New York Observer , wrote, "Australia is clearly a labor of love, and a matter of national pride. It is also a bit of a mess. I must confess that I might have been harder on Mr Luhrmann's film if I had not remained entranced by Ms. Kidman ever since I first saw her in Phillip Noyce's Dead Calm in 1989; in my opinion, she has lost none of her luster in the 20 years since." [52] In his review for Time , Richard Schickel wrote, "Have you seen everything Australia has on offer a dozen times before? Sure you have. It's a movie less created by director and co-writer Baz Luhrmann than assembled, Dr Frankenstein-style, from the leftover body parts of earlier movies. Which leaves us asking this question: How come it is so damnably entertaining?" [53]
Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal , opines that, "In its heart of hearts Australia is an old-fashioned Western—a Northern, if you will—and all the more enjoyable for it." [54] Nick Rogers, of FilmYap, adds that, "Luhrmann mythologized his homeland as American directors like John Ford did with Westerns—dramatic-license exaggerations that pay off in droves." [55] Ann Hornaday, in her review for the Washington Post , wrote, "A wildly ambitious, luridly indulgent spectacle of romance, action, melodrama and revisionism, Australia is windy, overblown, utterly preposterous and insanely entertaining." [56] In her review for Salon.com, Stephanie Zacharek wrote, "The second half of Australia, Luhrmann's attempt to pull off a wartime weeper, is so aggressively sentimental that it begins to feel more like punishment than pleasure. I left Australia feeling drained and weakened, as if I'd suffered a gradual poisoning at the hands of a mad scientist." [57]
The film had better box office success in overseas markets and a disappointing gross in the United States – a pattern similar to Luhrmann's three previous films. As of November 2009 [update] , the film has grossed $211,342,221 in its worldwide releases. [2] [58] In Australia, the film grossed A$6.37 million in its opening weekend, setting the record for the highest grossing opening weekend for an Australian film and bumping the latest James Bond film Quantum of Solace to second place. [59] Australia performed less well in the U.S., where it surprised box office analysts by opening only at #5, behind Quantum of Solace, Twilight , Bolt , and Four Christmases , and grossed $20 million opening weekend. [59] However, Fox officials were reportedly happy with the numbers, as they said they were expecting only an $18 million opening gross for the film. [60] [61] They further pointed out that Baz Luhrmann's other films, like Moulin Rouge! , Strictly Ballroom , and Romeo + Juliet , started slowly and then built momentum. [62] Australia eventually grossed $49,554,002 in the U.S., 23.4% of its total worldwide gross. [2] Australia's ticket sales outside the United States are $161,788,219 from 51 countries. [2] It opened at No. 1 in Spain, France, Australia, and Germany, and at No. 3 in Britain. [59] Australia grossed $37,555,757 at the box office in Australia. [63]
The DVD was released in the United States on 3 March 2009, opening at #2, and sold 728,000 units in the opening weekend, translating to revenue of $12.3 million. [64] Australia sold almost two million DVDs in one month, 80% of what the studio predicted it would sell altogether. As of 15 November 2009 [update] , Australia had sold 1,739,700 units in the U.S., for a revenue of $27.9 million. [64] Since being released in Australia, the DVD has sold double what the studio expected. [65]
Australia is available to stream on Disney+ in Australia. [66]
Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Outcome |
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Academy Awards | Best Costume Design | Catherine Martin | Nominated |
Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Brandon Walters | Nominated |
Best Costume Design | Catherine Martin and Eliza Godman | Won | |
Best Original Music Score | David Hirschfelder | Nominated | |
Best Production Design | Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy and Beverley Dunn | Won | |
Best Sound | Wayne Pashley and Guntis Sics | Nominated | |
Best Visual Effects | Chris Godfrey, James E. Price, Andy Brown and Rob Duncan | Won | |
Best Young Actor | Brandon Walters | Nominated | |
Members' Choice Award | Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown and Catherine Knapman | Nominated | |
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Cinematography | Mandy Walker | Nominated |
Most Promising Performer | Brandon Walters | Won | |
Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Young Performer | Brandon Walters | Nominated |
Film Critics Circle of Australia | Best Film | G. Mac Brown, Catherine Martin and Baz Luhrmann | Nominated |
Best Supporting Actor | Brandon Walters | Won | |
Best Cinematography | Mandy Walker | Won | |
Best Music Score | David Hirschfelder | Nominated | |
Satellite Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Baz Luhrmann | Nominated |
Best Art Direction and Production Design | Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy and Beverly Dunn | Won | |
Best Cinematography | Mandy Walker | Won | |
Best Costume Design | Catherine Martin | Nominated | |
Best Editing | Dody Dorn and Michael McCusker | Nominated | |
Best Original Score | David Hirschfelder | Nominated | |
Best Original Song | Felix Meagher, Angela Little and Baz Luhrmann for "By the Boab Tree" | Nominated | |
Best Sound | Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Wayne Pashley | Nominated | |
Best Visual Effects | Chris Godfrey, James E. Price and Diana Giorgiutti | Won | |
Outstanding New Talent | Brandon Walters | Won | |
Saturn Awards | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Brandon Walters | Nominated |
Best Costumes | Catherine Martin | Nominated | |
St. Louis Film Critics Association | Best Cinematography | Mandy Walker | Won |
Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie - Romance | Australia | Nominated |
Choice Movie Actor: Drama | Hugh Jackman | Nominated | |
Choice Movie Actress: Drama | Nicole Kidman | Nominated | |
Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in an International Feature Film – Leading Young Performers | Brandon Walters | Won |
In June 2022, Bazmark Films and 20th Television announced a six-part limited television series titled Faraway Downs, a serialized version of the film featuring additional unused footage from the original production. [67] Post-production on Faraway Downs took place in Queensland at Brisbane-based studios The Post Lounge and Resin. [68]
Faraway Downs debuted on 21 October 2023 at the SXSW Sydney Festival and was released worldwide on 26 November 2023 on Hulu and Disney+. [69] The limited series received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 56% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "Faraway Downs may intrigue some as an interesting experiment, but Baz Luhrmann's reassessment of a past work doesn't fix the original Australia's deficiencies while adding to its bloat." [70] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [71]
Faraway Downs: The Official Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | 24 November 2023 |
Label | DTS Production, Sony |
Singles from Faraway Downs: The Official Soundtrack | |
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The Faraway Downs: The Official Soundtrack was released digitally on 24 November 2023.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "The Way" (performed by Budjerah and Matt Corby) | Budjerah Slabb, Matt Corby | 2:27 |
2. | "Anpuru Maau Kutjpa" (performed by Electric Fields) | Mimili Community, Zaachariaha Fielding, Michael Ross | 3:00 |
3. | "Life Goes On" (performed by King Stingray) | Theo Dimathaya Burarrwanga, Jerome Gotjirringu Yunupiŋu | 3:36 |
4. | "Tjarpala" (performed by Electric Fields) | Zaachariaha Fielding, Michael Ross | 1:58 |
5. | "Antara Maau Kutjpa" (performed by Electric Fields) | Mimili Community, Zaachariaha Fielding, Michael Ross | 3:02 |
6. | "Amazing Grace" (performed by Jessica Mauboy featuring Dr G Yunupingu) | John Newton | 3:43 |
7. | "Tjukurpa Spirit" (performed by Electric Fields) | Zaachariaha Fielding, David Hirschfelder, Michael Ross | 1:33 |
8. | "Tjukurpa" (performed by Electric Fields) | Zaachariaha Fielding, Michael Ross | 2:52 |
9. | "Ngula" (performed by Electric Fields) | Zaachariaha Fielding, Michael Ross | 3:19 |
10. | "By the Boab Tree" (performed by Miiesha) | Angela Little, Baz Luhrmann, Felix Meagher, Anton Monsted, Schuyler Weiss | 3:53 |
Total length: | 29:28 |
Nicole Mary Kidman is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards. She became the first Australian actor to receive the AFI Life Achievement Award honor in 2024.
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows an English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan, Satine. The film uses the musical setting of the Montmartre Quarter of Paris and is the final part of Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy, following Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Romeo + Juliet (1996). A co-production of Australia and the United States, it features an ensemble cast starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, with Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, John Leguizamo, Jacek Koman, and Caroline O'Connor in supporting roles.
Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music, and recording industries, he is regarded by some as a contemporary example of an auteur for his style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, design, and musical components of all his work. He is the most commercially successful Australian director, with four of his films in the top ten highest worldwide grossing Australian films of all time.
William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet is a 1996 romantic crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It is a modernized adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name, albeit still utilizing Shakespearean English. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles of two teenagers who fall in love, despite their being members of feuding families. Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Miriam Margolyes, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora also star in supporting roles. It is the third major film version of the play, following adaptations by George Cukor in 1936 and by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968.
In Australia, a station is a large landholding used for producing livestock, predominantly cattle or sheep, that needs an extensive range of grazing land. The owner of a station is called a pastoralist or a grazier, corresponding to the North American term "rancher".
Sir Sidney Kidman, known as Sid Kidman and popularly named "the Cattle King", was an Australian pastoralist and entrepreneur who owned or co-owned large areas of land in Australia in his lifetime.
The Red Curtain Trilogy is a DVD boxed set, released in 2002, of the first three films directed by Baz Luhrmann:
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm, the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a grazier. The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia, which covers an area of 23,677 square kilometres.
A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep, cattle, and horses "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in search of better feed and/or water or in search of a yard to work on the livestock. The drovers who covered very long distances to open up new country were known as "overlanders".
Catherine Martin is an Australian costume, production, and set designer. In a career spanning over three decades, she is recognized for her prolific work across stage and screen with her husband, Baz Luhrmann. These include their collaborations on such acclaimed films as Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Australia (2008), The Great Gatsby (2013), and Elvis (2022). She has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, six BAFTA Awards, and a Tony Award.
No. 5 the Film (2004) is a 180-second short film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Rodrigo Santoro. Karl Lagerfeld designed the costumes; he also briefly appears in the film. It is part of a new breed of advertising crossover films known as branded content. It had a budget of US$33 million, financed exclusively by Chanel. Visually captivating, the film is an extended television commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume. The film was initially screened in many North American cinemas during the "Coming Attractions" section preceding the main feature. During the 2006 Christmas season, an edited 30-second TV spot was shown on primetime on many networks in Canada and the United States. Kidman was paid $3 million for her role in the advertisement.
Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film is the soundtrack album to Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, released on 8 May 2001 by Interscope Records. The album features most of the songs featured in the film. However, some of the songs are alternate versions and there are two or three major songs that are left off. The original film versions and extra songs were featured on the second soundtrack.
Brandon Walters is an Indigenous Australian actor known for his performance as Nullah in the 2008 film Australia.
The Great Gatsby is a 2013 American historical romantic drama film based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars an ensemble cast consisting of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, and Elizabeth Debicki. Filming took place from September to December 2011 in Australia, with a $105 million net production budget. The film follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio) and his neighbor Nick Carraway (Maguire) who recounts his interactions with Gatsby amid the riotous parties of the Jazz Age on Long Island in New York.
Carlton Hill Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Situated approximately 39 kilometres (24 mi) to the north-west of Kununurra and 44 kilometres (27 mi) east of Wyndham, the station covers an area of 3,675 square kilometres (1,419 sq mi).
Victoria River Downs Station, also known as Victoria Downs and in the past sometimes referred to as The Big Run, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia, established in 1883.
American-born Australian actress and producer Nicole Kidman has appeared in numerous film and television projects, as well as in theatre productions. She made her film debut in the Australian drama Bush Christmas in 1983. Four years later, she starred in the television miniseries Bangkok Hilton, for which she received the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama. Her breakthrough role was as a married woman trapped on a yacht with a murderer in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. She followed this with her Hollywood debut opposite Tom Cruise in Tony Scott's auto-racing film Days of Thunder (1990). Her role as a homicidal weather forecaster in Gus Van Sant's crime comedy-drama To Die For garnered Kidman a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical in 1996. She worked with Cruise again on Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992) and Stanley Kubrick's erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut in 1999.
Mark Coles Smith, also known by his musical identity as Kalaji, is an Aboriginal Australian actor of stage and screen, sound designer, field recordist, writer, and composer. He is known for his roles in the feature films Last Cab to Darwin (2015), Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018), and Occupation: Rainfall (2020), as well as the television series Mystery Road: Origin (2022), and the Canadian series Hard Rock Medical (2013–18).
S. Kidman & Co is an Australian producer of beef. While it used to be one of the largest producers, since being owned by Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting since December 2016, it has been selling off its properties. As of 10 April 2023 it has four pastoral leases, one in the Northern Territory and three in Queensland.
Elvis is a 2022 epic biographical drama film co-produced and directed by Baz Luhrmann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. It chronicles the life of the American rock and roll singer and actor Elvis Presley under the management of Colonel Tom Parker. It stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Presley and Parker, respectively, with Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Luke Bracey in supporting roles.